1957 MERCEDES-BENZ 300 SL ROADSTER

Who knew that Mercedes-Benz’s first racing effort after the World War would be so potent. The W194, was introduced at the Mille Miglia in 1952, the car’s performance had already impressed everyone. In its debut outing at the Italian 1000km road rally, the car took home an impressive 2nd and 4th position. This was just the beginning for greater things to come for the W194, as it would soon go on to win at multiple events that included the 24 hours of Le Mans and the Carrera Pan-America, two of the most prestigious open-world motorsport events back then (and even today).

The W194 300 SL race car was an incredible machine. Stuttgart started building a car around a welded aluminium tubular spaceframe chassis that would hold the carburetted straight six engine. While the spaceframe was built around the driver compartment in a way that maximised weight saving and rigidity, hence the high-sill doors had to be installed instead of the regular ones, giving the W194 300 SL its most unique character.